ffiOPAGATTON AND CULTURE. 15 



of this moistened porous earthenware would find a proper 

 nidus for their development, which might thus be watched 

 with great facility, it is to be borne in mind, however, that 

 the seedling plants are not so readily transplanted from an 

 earthenware or stone surface, as they are when growing on 

 the soil. 



The general features of culture which it will be sufficient 

 here to notice are shade, shelter, and abundance of mois- 

 ture. Neither of these are, however, essential to all the 

 species ; but when judiciously combined, they produce con- 

 ditions under which all the species admit of being very suc- 

 cessfully grown. 



In the garden, Ferns seem only appropriately introduced 

 on what is called rockwork, which generally means a bank 

 of earth irregularly terraced with misshapen blocks of stone, 

 or by masses of some other hard porous material, the vitri- 

 fied conglomerations formed in the burning of bricks being 

 that most commonly employed. With taste in the distri- 

 bution of these and such-like materials, and in the planting 

 of the Ferns, a very pleasing effect may be produced ; and 

 on rockwork of this kind, if it be erected in a shaded and 

 sheltered situation, and liberally supplied with percolating 

 (not stagnant) water, and if the soil be of a texture which 

 will admit of being thus constantly moist without becoming 

 soddened, nearly all the English Ferns may be grown suc- 

 cessfully. _ The most sunny, most exposed, and least mois- 

 tened positions on the rockwork should be appropriated to 

 those species which grow naturally in situations to which 

 these conditions afford the nearest resemblance ; while, on 

 the other hand, the kinds which naturally prefer the deepest 

 shade and the dampest soil, should be placed in the positions 

 where these conditions are most nearly imitated. 



The most interesting mode for the amateur Fern-grower 

 consists in the cultivation of the plants under glass, either 

 in pots, or planted in a Wardian case. All the species admit 

 of being grown in pots, and when developed under the pro- 

 tection of a covering of glass, acquire more than their natural 



delicacy of appearance. For the hardy Ferns, the frame or 

 case in which they are grown should have a northern aspect. 

 mi ie plants must be kept cool in summer, by shading, by 

 rinkling, and by removing all impediments to a free circu- 

 tion of air at night, not quite closing the frame even by 



Wardian cases for Ferns, in which they may be planted 

 it on rockwork, may be either of the size and nature of n 



out on 



